


SAR

by aww_writing_no



Series: Winterhawk Week 2019 [1]
Category: Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-25 17:31:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20728079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aww_writing_no/pseuds/aww_writing_no
Summary: When you have a search dog, you get used to the early morning call outs. But it doesn't mean Clint likes leaving to go tramping through the woods with Lucky.For Winterhawk Week Day One.





	SAR

It was about 3am when Clint got the call. Missing child, possible kidnapping, all hands on deck. Clint hated the ones with the kids. 

As he rolled out of bed, Lucky danced at his feet, tail wagging in barely contained excitement. He always knew which calls meant he got to go out and “play”. Clint thought it was funny in a sad and ironic kind of way that Lucky’s favorite pastime always meant somebody else’s greatest nightmare. 

Clint got dressed in the dark and grabbed his go-bag out of the closet on autopilot. He’d gotten enough late-night-turned-early-morning calls to have a routine down pat. He kept everything prepared so he wouldn’t have to think; he could just go. 

As he was about to leave, Clint tiptoed over to the other side of the bed and planted a soft kiss on Bucky’s forehead, just above the eyebrow. Bucky shifted slightly and let out a mumble that could have been an “I love you”. 

Bucky too was a veteran of the late night calls, and claimed he was used to going back to sleep and waking up in bed alone. Clint was never sure if he was faking or not, but he appreciated Bucky’s understanding either way. 

By the time Clint arrived at the deployment site, what would normally have been an empty parking lot at this time of night had been transformed into a bustling collection of trucks and hastily erected tents. He didn’t get much time to take it in, because missing kids were always a mad rush of “go, go, go”. He managed to get a quick text off to Bucky letting him know he’d arrived safely before he got his assignment and was shoved head first into the search. 

The next chance he got to check his phone, the sun had just started coming up and he had a message from Bucky reading “_K, stay safe. Love you <3 _”. Clint smiled, happiness seemingly at odds with the fact he was sitting next to a ditch covered in drying mud up to his knees and trying to eat a protein bar as Lucky nosed him impatiently. 

“I know, bud,” Clint said, scratching him behind an ear. Chunks of mud flaked off under Clint’s fingers. He really wasn’t looking forward to giving him a bath when they got back from the search. Maybe if he was lucky, ha!, he could sweet talk Bucky into giving him the bath. It worked maybe half the time, so the odds weren’t too badly against him. “I know you want to follow this scent, but I won’t be much good to you if I keel over, buddy. I’m an old man who’s only got two legs.” 

Lucky whined, pawing at his foot. Clint kept scratching him, and shoved the rest of his protein bar in his mouth so he could reply to Bucky with his other hand. 

Clint carefully balanced his phone on his knee and slowly tapped out a message. “_Love you more, _ ” he typed. “_It’s lonely here without you :( _” 

Not that he would ever admit to worrying when Clint was out on a deployment, but Bucky must have been waiting near his phone because a new text popped up a few seconds later. “_I’m sure you’ll manage _ ”. Clint could practically hear the sarcasm dripping off that text. “_How’s the search going? Still got all your limbs attached? _” 

“_That was ONE TIME! _” Clint had just responded when he felt Lucky perk up from where he’d been sulking at his feet. 

“Busy sexting your boyfriend?” he heard Natasha ask as she emerged from the bushes holding out a thermos. 

Clint jumped to his feet before snatching the thermos greedily out of her hand. He knew exactly what was inside, and he hadn’t had time to make any before he headed out this morning. Besides, Bucky normally made the coffee. Clint wasn’t even sure he knew how to operate their coffee machine. He unscrewed the lid and took a long swallow, closing his eyes in bliss. “You are a god among men,” he told her, beyond thankful for the gift of caffeine.

“I know,” she said, leaning down to scratch Lucky with both hands. “You are such a good boy, yes you are,” she informed the dog. “You are the bestest boy to be putting up with this trainwreck of a handler.” 

Clint thought about protesting, but decided she was probably right. Compared to Lucky, he was a trainwreck. Everyone knew the handlers were the deadweights on the SAR dog teams. Besides, complaining about Natasha’s hurtful words would only be taking time away from inhaling his coffee. He needed to down this caffeine as fast as possible so they could get back on the search. If they found this kid fast enough, maybe he could make it home in time for bunch with Bucky. 

“Nothing from any of the other teams?” Clint asked when he was done inhaling the coffee. He handed the thermos back to Natasha, who shoved it in her backpack as she shook her head. 

“Not yet,” she told him. 

Clint leaned backwards, arching his shoulder blades together and feeling his spine pop. “Guess that means we’re back to it. Ready Lucky?” 

Lucky let out an enthusiastic bark and got into position for Clint's cue, tail wagging madly. 

Clint laughed, shooting off a quick text to Bucky and ignoring the long string of messages where he was protesting that Clint getting hurt was definitely not just a one time thing. "_Back @ it, love you _". 

Clint gave Lucky the search cue, and took off after him through the brush. The thing about being the human half of a SAR dog team was that Lucky did most of the work and Clint was just there to bumble along behind and operate the radio. It gave him a lot of down time to think about things. 

Granted, Fury, their usual incident commander, said this was why Clint got hurt more than any other member of the SAR team. Apparently he was supposed to be doing things like watching the terrain, but Clint much preferred daydreaming while running headlong after his partner. 

Today’s daydream, like most of his daydreams, revolved around Bucky. Not in the dirty way Natasha often accused him of, but in the sappy domestic way he knew she’d give him hell about if she ever found out. 

Because dumb as it seemed to most people, Clint’s biggest dream was bringing Bucky home to meet his family. Clint got to meet Bucky’s family years ago, but whenever Clint went back home to visit, he did it solo. As much as he’d love to introduce them to Bucky, he’d really rather not have them both run out of his childhood home with pitchforks if it was all the same. 

To say his family wasn’t understanding about same-sex relationships would be a bit of an understatement. 

So he’d moved out to the west coast and got a security job manly enough to satisfy his family. In his spare time he did search and rescue, so it really was such a pity he didn’t have time to find a girlfriend. Nobody back home had to know that he slept in the same bed as his “roommate” Bucky. 

Clint was so engrossed in the fantasy of taking Bucky home to meet his family that he nearly face planted when Lucky let out his “found it” bark and he tripped over a tree root. He managed to catch himself on a branch, and whistled Lucky back to him. It wasn’t a good sign that Lucky’d found something way out here in the boonies. He’d really hoped that one of the urban teams would have picked up a scent on the kid. 

To his surprise and disappointment, Lucky barked again instead of coming back to Clint’s side. It looked like they needed to have some extra training sessions when they got back from this deployment. Shaking his head, Clint followed the sound of Lucky’s bark and radioed Natasha. 

“Romanov, come in.” 

“Romanov here,” came the crackling reply. 

“Lucky found something, can you head to my loc- Oh fuck,” Clint yelped, interupting himself as he spotted Lucky. 

“What’s your status Barton?” Natasha asked sharply, breaking Clint out of his stupor. 

“Uhh, how many kids were we searching for again?” Clint asked slowly, blinking rapidly in disbelief. 

“One, female, age nine,” Natasha responded, professionally short. Unlike Clint, she never got lectures on her unprofessional use of the radio. 

Clint stared at the swarm of children clustered around Lucky. He supposed at least one of them looked like they could be a nine year old girl. Clint hand signaled Lucky to stay, and backed up quietly. He didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but the kids had been so engrossed in Lucky they hadn’t noticed him. He wanted to keep it that way until he figured out what he’d walked into. 

It was too fucking early for this. What he’d give to still be warm in bed with Bucky right now. 

**Author's Note:**

> Want to know what all those kids are doing there? 
> 
> Yeah, me too.


End file.
